'9 Colgan says,' he had a copy of this Poem, but he thinks that interpolations have been
inserted
there by a more recent hand.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v1
Biographical notices and references to their Acts mainly constitute sources, whence Church History is derived.
Among the Greeks and Orientals, collections of such biographies
were known as Menologias, and among the Latins they were styled Acta Sanctorum. CalendarsandMartyrologies,compiledbyvariousindividuals or communities, have preserved for us more concise outlines of Saint History, with the commemorations and festivals of numerous holy servants of God, belonging to many different nations.
For an Introduction, explaining the scope and design of this work, the
writer deems it superfluous specially to descant on the general utility of Hagiography, or to dwell in detail on the labours of illustrious and learned men,whohavedevotedtheirlivestoitscultureandexposition. Nottomen- tion the names of various ancient writers, who flourished before the invention of printing in the fifteenth century, and who have left behind them manu- script memorials of saints ; printed biographies, since pubhshed by a host of mediaeval and modern authors, have taken an extensive range through this interesting department of Church History. It must prove an almost impos- sible task to enumerate the various general, national, provincial, and local collections of Saints' Lives, which have been already published ; to particu- larize different languages or idioms wherein those acts have been written ; and to name all the individuals or congregations, who have been en- gaged, at stated periods, and at several places, in bringing them to light. While the writer of this present work has restricted his researches and con- fined his object to recording Lives of the Irish Saints, he has always felt
tNTRODuctiOn:
regret that this fertile and wide domain of Ecclesiastical and National History should have been hitherto so imperfectly cultivated.
However limited might appear, at first sight, that particular section of
biography which comprises the Hagiology of so small a country as Ireland ; yet, it is scarcely to be hoped, in the ordinary course of nature, that any single person will be found to exhaust—even remotely—those rich treasures that remain after the wTeck of ages, and which contain materials for extended memoirs of distinguished saints, connected with our Island. Such records are now accessible to the generality of capable scholars and students. For-
tunately and opportunely, for the proximate accomplishment of his object, the Lives of many Irish Saints, printed and in manuscript, have become available for the writer's purpose. Rare and voluminous archives chiefly grace the shelves of large public libraries, or are found among the private collections of men, possessing ample means and a taste for procuring scarce and valuable literary treasures. Several manuscript biographies of our national saints are yet to be found in the Irish, Latin, and other tongues, and many of these have not yet been published. From records that remain, we have been enabled to discover titles and occasional fragments, referring to numerous ancient and valuable Acts or Lives, that have been irreparably lost,ornothithertorecovered. Howmanymoremanuscriptshaveperished, during the changing fortunes of their former possessors, or through lapse of time, cannot be known to the present, or perhaps to any future generation.
With—in the limits of this Introduction it might be expedient-^were it possible to present an abbreviated account of unpublished and published documents, that furnish the principal materials for compiling Irish Hagiology. Those manuscripts and printed works of chief importance must be noticed, however, in connexion with this subject, and especially according to the order of their first composition or publication. While several manuscript memorials of Irish saints are contained in the public libraries of Dublin city, and of other places throughout Ireland, a very considerable portion has been removed from this country. Some are to be found in private collections, belonging to gentlemen at present or lately in Ireland. Manuscripts have been undoubtedly lost, yet many are still preserved in the libraries of Great Britain and of various other countries on the Continent of Europe. The cities and towns, where those documents are kept, shall here be briefly noticed, and authorities are cited, that best serve to corroborate the several
statements. It should require a separate and large volume to characterize the value and authenticity of those various records, regarded as sources for the illustration and development of our Saint History.
From earliest ages of the Church, writers were accustomed to register
Acts of the Martyrs and Lives of the principal Saints. This usage was
adopted in Ireland, likewise, and from the first dawn of Christianity in our Island. Many of those writers even deserve to rank among the Beatified.
Abundant sources for Hagiography formerly existed, but, at present, many fail the research of modern Irish archaeologists and historians. Besides
vJ JNIRODUCTIOM.
treating topics purely moral and doctrinal in poems and prose writings, various ancient authors have compiled Acts and Lives of our Saints.
Calendars and Martyrologies, Festilogies and Litanies, Canonical Decrees and Epistles, the Rules and Exercises of Monastic observance, Penitentials, Visions and Revelations, H)nTins and Panegyrics, Dialogues, Prophecies and
Legends, Psalters, sacred Genealogies and local Traditions, as also our generally accurate Annals and Chronicles, have respectively their relative and authentic value to evolve the facts of past Ecclesiastical History from much obscurity. To those old writers and their tracts, we can only allude in a very cursory manner. For a more suitable place and distribution of
topics, in succeeding pages, further literary details and biographical infor- mation are reserved.
Although we may be arrested occasionally by the introduction of some remarkable writer or work, in the chronological order of this recapitulation ; yet, it will only be done to furnish the studious reader with some necessary previous knowledge for better understanding the period, character, and impor- tanceofauthorities,frequentlycitedthroughoutthesevolumes. Nottospeak of some Irish persons, who flourished, it is thought, before the time of St. Patrick, and who are said to have written as Christians, it will suffice to state, that, in the fifth and sixth centuries, some of our earliest and best kno\vTi saint authors lived and wrote. Their literary labours, when well authen- ticated, best serve to illustrate their personal history ; or, when treating about the peculiar topics and authors hereafter enumerated, it must appear that the respective writers, without concerted action, have wTought a chain of evidence, every link of which, making all due allowance for defective parts, will bear the strain of opposing force, and lift our early Irish Church and her sanctified ones to the highest level and brightest position yet attained by other Chris- tian nations.
Section I. —Irish Hagiologists of the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Centuries.
The great Apostle of Ireland, St. Patrick,^ has left us, as genuine tracts,* a short Confession, Epistles, and Canonical Decrees ; but other treatises ascribed to him are not regarded as quite authentic. ^ His successor in the see of Armagh, St. Binen, or Benignus,* is said to have written a book, partly in Irish, and partly in Latin, on the Virtues and Miracles of St.
Section I. —' See his Life at the 17th of March.
learned Spanish Priest, at Dublin, a. d. 1835, in an octavo volume, having for its
" Sancti
Sjmodi, Canones, Opuscula, et Scriptorum quae supersunt, Fragmenta ; scholiis illus-
' In the of opinion good
Ibemorum
critics.
3 Sir James Ware published at London, A. D. 1656, an octavo volume, "Opuscula
title,
Patricii,
Apostoli,
Sancto Patricio, qui Hibemos ad fidem trata," a Joachimo Laurentio Villanueva,
Christi convertit, adscripta. " But by far Presbytero. It is already a very scarce the most correct and erudite edition of our work.
Apostle's compositions is that issued by a * Sec his Life at the 9th of November.
5 This work has been most ably edited for the Celtic Society, by the late John O' Donovan, LL. D. , who has added a valu- able Introduction, a Translation from the Irish, and notes. It was published at Dub-
*'
these works, in his
Ecclesiasticorum, sive illustrium virorum, cum Appendice eorum, qui nostro etiam seculo doctissimi claruere," fol. xxxiiii. a. This work was published at Cologne, A. D.
INTRODUCTION. Vll
Patrick, as also a tract, called the Leabhar na g-Ceart, or the Book of Rights. s Dubthach Ua Lugair,^ Arch-Poet to King Laogaire, became an early convert to Christianity, and thenceforward his gifts of intellect were employed in composing elegant verses, praising the Omnipotent Creator, and extolling His holy preachers. 7
The disciple of this Dubthach, St. Fiec or Fiach,^ afterwards Bishop of Sletty, wrote an Irish Hymn of Thirty-four Distichs or Ranns, on the Acts of
St. Patrick. 9 Sedulius, an accompHshed Poet, Orator, and Divine,'° has leftbehindhimmanyworksinproseandverse. " ToSt. Cathaldus,Bishop of Tarentum," some prophecies have been ascribed. '^ St. Kianan or Cienan, Bishop of Duleek,'+ is said to have written a Life of St. Patrick, by whom he had been baptized. ^s gt. Fridolin,^'^ the son of an Irish king, flou- rished towards the close of the fifth and the beginning of the sixth century. He wrote some pious Exhortations and Treatises, now supposed to be lost. '7
lin, A. D. 1847, in an octavo volume. *"
See a valuable series of erudite Disqui-
sitions by the Rev. John Francis Shearman,
intituled, "LocaPatriciana,"inthe "Journal
of the Royal Historical and Archaeological
Association of Ireland," vol. ii. . Fourth hunc Domini 1557. " Cent. xiv. p. 187.
Series, No. iii. , pp. 486 to 498, and No. iv. pp. 544 to 560. Also vol. iii. No. v. pp.
24 to 59, and No. vi. pp. 183 to 196.
7 Colgan maintains, he possessed different
Owing to the author's peculiar bias and temperament, this work is not very reliable,
except in passages, chiefly extracted from Leland's collection. See also Bellarmin, "De
little compositions of this celebrated poet. ''""
See Trias Thaumaturga, n. 5, p. 8.
^ See his Life at the 12th of October,
9 This, with a Latin translation and notes,
has been published by Colgan, as the first of St. Patrick's Lives, in the "Trias Thauma-
turga. " See pp. I to 10. It was originally extracted from the " Liber Hymnorum," a MS. now preserved in the Franciscan Con- ventual Library, Dublin. Another Irish version, with an English translation, intro- ductory observations and notes, will be found in " The Irish Ecclesiastical Record," vol. iv. , pp. 269 to 293. March, 1868. The Rev. Dr. Todd was about to introduce this Hymn, in his edition of the "Liber Hymno- rum ;" but he has left the Preface even in-
Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis," pp. 149 to 152. See his Life at the 8th of May.
'3 See Bartholomew Moroni, "Vita S. Cathaldi. " This was published at Rome, A. D. 1614. See also Wills' "Lives of Illus- trious and Distinguished Irishmen," vol. i. , part i. First Period, p. 77.
'* See his Life at the 29th of November.
5 See Harris' Ware, vol. iii. " The Writers of Ireland," book i. , chap. ii. p. Ii.
'^
See his Life at 6th of March.
*7 Such is the statement of Bale, in his work already mentioned. Cent. xiv. No. x. p. 188. In his " Historia Ecclesiatica Gen- tis Scotorum," tomus i. , lib. vi. , No. 515, pp. 280, 281, Dempster adds the titles of other works, but he cites no authority for his complete, at part ii. , p. 304. This is all we statement. See Edinburgh edition, a. d.
have as yet published, and it issued soon
after the death of the lamented Dr. Todd,
in 1869.
" See his Life at the 12th of February.
1829. This writer's great partiality for Scotland induces him improperly to claim the present saint, as also many other saints
and writers, although unquestionably these were Irishmen.
"
John of Trittenhem enumerates some of
Catalogus Scriptorum
1531, in quarto shape. Bale has added to John of Trittenhem's List, in his Scripto-
rum Illustrium Majoris Brytannije, quam nunc Angliam et Scotiam vocant, Catalogus: a Japheto per 3618 annos, usque ad annum
vm INTROD UCTION.
St. Ailbe, Bishop of Emly,^^ is believed to have compiled a Rule for Monks, ^9 which had been preserved in manuscript. ^"
The illustrious St. Brigid,^^ justly regarded as the great luminary in our Irish Church, about the close of the fifth and beginning of the sixth centu-
ries, is stated to have composed a Rule for her Nuns, and to have written some devout poems and epistles. ^^ Her chaplain, St. Nemid or Ninnidh Lainidan,=^3 is said to have produced some Hymns, in one of which there is a Panegyric of St. Brigid. ^-^ St. Brogan Cloen,*s Abbot of Rostuirck in Ossory, also wrote an Irish Hymn in her praise. ^*^ Cogitosus compiled a Life of St. Brigid. ^7
St. Diarmuid, the Just, was Abbot of Inis-Clothran,'^ and to him is attri- buted a work in the form of a Psalter, wherein fifty-two Irish saints are com- memorated. "9 St. FinenorFinian,BishopofClonard,isenumeratedamong our writers. 3° A certain Geman wrote a hymn in praise of this holy Bishop. 3^ St. Kieran, Abbot of Clonmacnoise,^" is also said to have written a Rule for his Monks, and it is known under a title, The Law of Ciaran, the Artificer. 33 Some Prophecies are rather doubtfully ascribed to St. Jarlath,34 Bishop of Tuam. 35 Amergin Mac Auley, Poet Laureate to Dermod Mac Carroll,3'5 is supposed to be author of the Dinnsenchus, or
the Etymology of Remarkable Places in Ireland. 37 Again, the Canons of
'^
See his Life at the I2th of September.
'' This seems to have been the Law of St.
Albe, embraced in Munster, according to the "Ulster Annals," at a. d. 792. See
September.
'7 See Gerard Vossius, " De Scriptoribus
Latinis," lib. iii. , p. 624. Canisius, "An- tiquje Lectiones," tomus v.
January.
'9 Colgan says,' he had a copy of this Poem, but he thinks that interpolations have been inserted there by a more recent hand. See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernifc,"
X. Januarii, Vita S. Diermitii, n. 9, pp. 51,52. 30 His Life is given at the 1 2th of Decem-
ber. For his imputed writings, see Sir James Ware's " De Scriptoribus Hiberniae," lib. i. , p. 10.
3' See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber- niae," xxiii. Februarii, Vita S. Finiaui, cap. xxiii. , p. 395.
^ See his Life at the 9th of September.
33 See Sir James Ware's " De Scripto- ribus Hiberniae," lib. i. , p. 10.
3* See his Life at the 6th of June.
35 Colgan had a copy of those reputed prophecies. See "Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
niae, "xi. Februarii, VitaS. Hierlathi, p. 309. 3* See Dr. Kelly's edition of Gratianus
Lucius, or Lynch's "Cambrensis Eversus,"
vol. i. , cap. vii. , pp. 376 to 379.
3' Copies of this ancient tract are pre-
served in the Libraries of Trinity College, and of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin.
Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hibemicarum
=** See his Life at the loth of
Scrip- tores,"tomusiv. AnnalesUltonienses,p. 116. =~ See Harris' Ware. Vol. iii. "The
Writers of Ireland," book i. chap. ii. p. 6.
'' "^
See her Life at the ist of February. Other writings are likewise ascribed to
"
See Colgan's
Appendix Tertia ad Acta S. Brigidae, cap. ii. , p. 610. The life of St. Brigid is more
fully treated, at the ist of February, the day of her chief festival. The work attributed
"
to her by Bale,
lib. i. ," on the authority of some older writers, Sir James Ware believes should rather be ascribed to St. Brigid of Sweden. See "De Scriptoribus Hiberniie," lib. i. cap. ii. , p. 9.
"3 See his Life at the 2nd of April.
"* His acts occur at the i8th of January, according to Colgan. See "Acta Sancto- rum Hibemise," xviii. Januarii. Vita S. Nennidhii, pp. iii to 115.
'S See his Life at the 17th of September,
=«See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. " Appendix Tertia ad Acta S. Brigidae, cap. i. , p. 609. His feast occurs at the 17th of
her.
Trias Thaumaturga,"'
Suarum Revelationum,
classed H. 2. 15, and H. 3. 3, T. C. D. See
volume, with learned Introduction, notes,
and Appendices, for the Irish Archaeological Society, Dublin.
'^ See his Life at the loth of May. Also, Sir James Ware, "De Scriptoribus Hiber- nire," lib. i. , p. 14.
" Lectures on the Manu- script Materials of Ancient Irish History,"
xxi. p. 449.
3^ See his Life at the iSth of November. 39 His Acts, with notes and appendices,
arepublishedbyColgan. See"ActaSanc- torum Hibemiae," xviii. Martii. Vita S. Fridiani, sive Findiani, pp. 633 to 651.
*° See his Life at the 15th of April,
4' See Harris' Ware, vol. iii. "Writers of
Eugene O'Curry's
Lect. 10. Lect. i. , pp. 9,
n.
Lect. iii. , p. 53. Lect. ix. , pp. 188, 193. Lect. xii. , p. 257. Lect. xiv. , p. 302. Lect.
book
*" See his Life at the 1 6th of May.
^3 See Bale's "Scriptorum Illustrium Ma-
Ireland,"
i. , chap, iii. , pp. 16, 17.
&c. Cent, Catalogus. "
and Arnold Wion's ' '
4* See his Life at the 29th of November.
45 See "Trias " Colgan's Thaumaturga.
S'* In
Dempster's
Historia Ecclesiastica
joris Brytanniae,
xiv. , Lig-
No.
num Vita;," lib. ii.
78, p. 236,
ii. ,
28, p. 49.
INTR on UCTION. IX
the Blessed Frigidian^^ are attributed to a celebrated Irish Bishop of Lucca, who bore that name, and there founded a monastery. 39
St. Ruadan''° flourished in the sixth century, and it is said he wrote three differenttracts. '*' Muchaboutthesametime,St. Brendan,'*^BishopofClonfert, —some maintain, however, that he ruled over the see of Ardfert—wrote a Rule forhisMonks,andothertreatiseshavebeenascribedtohim. 43 Hisnamesake andcontemporary,St. Brendan,44AbbotofBirr,hasascribedtohimsomeenco- miastic verses on St. Columkille. 45 This latter great Apostle of Caledonia*^ is the reputed author of Saints' Acts, Prophecies, Monastic Rules, Poems, and Religious Tracts. ^? St. Comgall, or Congall,4S Abbot of Bangor, is said to have Wtten a Rule for Monks and some Epistles. 49 St. Eochaid Dalian, the Blind, 5° wrote some Irish poems in praise of St. Columkille, of St. Senan, Iniscathay, and of St. Conald Coel, Abbot of Inis-Coel. s' St. Colgius or Colchuo,52 is said to have been author of a Treatisess on the Miracles of his Master, St. Columkille. 54 St. Baithen, Abbot of Iona,5s is also said to have writteninIrishverse,TheLifeofSt. Columba. s'^ ToSt. Canice,Abbotof Aghaboe,57 has been attributed a Biography and Hymns, eulogistic of the same saint, s^ The foregoing enumeration, however, by no means exhausts the list of Hagiograpers,S9 who lived in the fifth and sixth centuries.
They are contained in the Books of Lecan, Reeves' edition of Adamnan's " Life of St.
Leinster, and Ballymote. Also in the MS. , Columba," published in a large quarto
Quinta Vita S. Columbse, cap. xli. and lib. i. , cap. xxvi. , p. 393. Colgan's "Trias
Appendix Tertia, pars, i. , p. 469.
** See his Life at the 9th of June.
47 The reader is referred for very complete
Thaumaturga. " Also, Appendix Tertia ad Acta S. Columbae, Pars Prima, p. 470.
57 See his Life at the nth of October.
5* See Sir Ware, " De Scriptoribus James
Hiberniae," lib. i. , cap. iii. , p. 34.
59 of these are unknown by name, Many
while it is uncertain if the tracts ascribed to
him to " Trias Colgan's
particulars regarding
Thaumaturga," pp. 31910514. See Tertia
ad Acta S.
were known as Menologias, and among the Latins they were styled Acta Sanctorum. CalendarsandMartyrologies,compiledbyvariousindividuals or communities, have preserved for us more concise outlines of Saint History, with the commemorations and festivals of numerous holy servants of God, belonging to many different nations.
For an Introduction, explaining the scope and design of this work, the
writer deems it superfluous specially to descant on the general utility of Hagiography, or to dwell in detail on the labours of illustrious and learned men,whohavedevotedtheirlivestoitscultureandexposition. Nottomen- tion the names of various ancient writers, who flourished before the invention of printing in the fifteenth century, and who have left behind them manu- script memorials of saints ; printed biographies, since pubhshed by a host of mediaeval and modern authors, have taken an extensive range through this interesting department of Church History. It must prove an almost impos- sible task to enumerate the various general, national, provincial, and local collections of Saints' Lives, which have been already published ; to particu- larize different languages or idioms wherein those acts have been written ; and to name all the individuals or congregations, who have been en- gaged, at stated periods, and at several places, in bringing them to light. While the writer of this present work has restricted his researches and con- fined his object to recording Lives of the Irish Saints, he has always felt
tNTRODuctiOn:
regret that this fertile and wide domain of Ecclesiastical and National History should have been hitherto so imperfectly cultivated.
However limited might appear, at first sight, that particular section of
biography which comprises the Hagiology of so small a country as Ireland ; yet, it is scarcely to be hoped, in the ordinary course of nature, that any single person will be found to exhaust—even remotely—those rich treasures that remain after the wTeck of ages, and which contain materials for extended memoirs of distinguished saints, connected with our Island. Such records are now accessible to the generality of capable scholars and students. For-
tunately and opportunely, for the proximate accomplishment of his object, the Lives of many Irish Saints, printed and in manuscript, have become available for the writer's purpose. Rare and voluminous archives chiefly grace the shelves of large public libraries, or are found among the private collections of men, possessing ample means and a taste for procuring scarce and valuable literary treasures. Several manuscript biographies of our national saints are yet to be found in the Irish, Latin, and other tongues, and many of these have not yet been published. From records that remain, we have been enabled to discover titles and occasional fragments, referring to numerous ancient and valuable Acts or Lives, that have been irreparably lost,ornothithertorecovered. Howmanymoremanuscriptshaveperished, during the changing fortunes of their former possessors, or through lapse of time, cannot be known to the present, or perhaps to any future generation.
With—in the limits of this Introduction it might be expedient-^were it possible to present an abbreviated account of unpublished and published documents, that furnish the principal materials for compiling Irish Hagiology. Those manuscripts and printed works of chief importance must be noticed, however, in connexion with this subject, and especially according to the order of their first composition or publication. While several manuscript memorials of Irish saints are contained in the public libraries of Dublin city, and of other places throughout Ireland, a very considerable portion has been removed from this country. Some are to be found in private collections, belonging to gentlemen at present or lately in Ireland. Manuscripts have been undoubtedly lost, yet many are still preserved in the libraries of Great Britain and of various other countries on the Continent of Europe. The cities and towns, where those documents are kept, shall here be briefly noticed, and authorities are cited, that best serve to corroborate the several
statements. It should require a separate and large volume to characterize the value and authenticity of those various records, regarded as sources for the illustration and development of our Saint History.
From earliest ages of the Church, writers were accustomed to register
Acts of the Martyrs and Lives of the principal Saints. This usage was
adopted in Ireland, likewise, and from the first dawn of Christianity in our Island. Many of those writers even deserve to rank among the Beatified.
Abundant sources for Hagiography formerly existed, but, at present, many fail the research of modern Irish archaeologists and historians. Besides
vJ JNIRODUCTIOM.
treating topics purely moral and doctrinal in poems and prose writings, various ancient authors have compiled Acts and Lives of our Saints.
Calendars and Martyrologies, Festilogies and Litanies, Canonical Decrees and Epistles, the Rules and Exercises of Monastic observance, Penitentials, Visions and Revelations, H)nTins and Panegyrics, Dialogues, Prophecies and
Legends, Psalters, sacred Genealogies and local Traditions, as also our generally accurate Annals and Chronicles, have respectively their relative and authentic value to evolve the facts of past Ecclesiastical History from much obscurity. To those old writers and their tracts, we can only allude in a very cursory manner. For a more suitable place and distribution of
topics, in succeeding pages, further literary details and biographical infor- mation are reserved.
Although we may be arrested occasionally by the introduction of some remarkable writer or work, in the chronological order of this recapitulation ; yet, it will only be done to furnish the studious reader with some necessary previous knowledge for better understanding the period, character, and impor- tanceofauthorities,frequentlycitedthroughoutthesevolumes. Nottospeak of some Irish persons, who flourished, it is thought, before the time of St. Patrick, and who are said to have written as Christians, it will suffice to state, that, in the fifth and sixth centuries, some of our earliest and best kno\vTi saint authors lived and wrote. Their literary labours, when well authen- ticated, best serve to illustrate their personal history ; or, when treating about the peculiar topics and authors hereafter enumerated, it must appear that the respective writers, without concerted action, have wTought a chain of evidence, every link of which, making all due allowance for defective parts, will bear the strain of opposing force, and lift our early Irish Church and her sanctified ones to the highest level and brightest position yet attained by other Chris- tian nations.
Section I. —Irish Hagiologists of the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Centuries.
The great Apostle of Ireland, St. Patrick,^ has left us, as genuine tracts,* a short Confession, Epistles, and Canonical Decrees ; but other treatises ascribed to him are not regarded as quite authentic. ^ His successor in the see of Armagh, St. Binen, or Benignus,* is said to have written a book, partly in Irish, and partly in Latin, on the Virtues and Miracles of St.
Section I. —' See his Life at the 17th of March.
learned Spanish Priest, at Dublin, a. d. 1835, in an octavo volume, having for its
" Sancti
Sjmodi, Canones, Opuscula, et Scriptorum quae supersunt, Fragmenta ; scholiis illus-
' In the of opinion good
Ibemorum
critics.
3 Sir James Ware published at London, A. D. 1656, an octavo volume, "Opuscula
title,
Patricii,
Apostoli,
Sancto Patricio, qui Hibemos ad fidem trata," a Joachimo Laurentio Villanueva,
Christi convertit, adscripta. " But by far Presbytero. It is already a very scarce the most correct and erudite edition of our work.
Apostle's compositions is that issued by a * Sec his Life at the 9th of November.
5 This work has been most ably edited for the Celtic Society, by the late John O' Donovan, LL. D. , who has added a valu- able Introduction, a Translation from the Irish, and notes. It was published at Dub-
*'
these works, in his
Ecclesiasticorum, sive illustrium virorum, cum Appendice eorum, qui nostro etiam seculo doctissimi claruere," fol. xxxiiii. a. This work was published at Cologne, A. D.
INTRODUCTION. Vll
Patrick, as also a tract, called the Leabhar na g-Ceart, or the Book of Rights. s Dubthach Ua Lugair,^ Arch-Poet to King Laogaire, became an early convert to Christianity, and thenceforward his gifts of intellect were employed in composing elegant verses, praising the Omnipotent Creator, and extolling His holy preachers. 7
The disciple of this Dubthach, St. Fiec or Fiach,^ afterwards Bishop of Sletty, wrote an Irish Hymn of Thirty-four Distichs or Ranns, on the Acts of
St. Patrick. 9 Sedulius, an accompHshed Poet, Orator, and Divine,'° has leftbehindhimmanyworksinproseandverse. " ToSt. Cathaldus,Bishop of Tarentum," some prophecies have been ascribed. '^ St. Kianan or Cienan, Bishop of Duleek,'+ is said to have written a Life of St. Patrick, by whom he had been baptized. ^s gt. Fridolin,^'^ the son of an Irish king, flou- rished towards the close of the fifth and the beginning of the sixth century. He wrote some pious Exhortations and Treatises, now supposed to be lost. '7
lin, A. D. 1847, in an octavo volume. *"
See a valuable series of erudite Disqui-
sitions by the Rev. John Francis Shearman,
intituled, "LocaPatriciana,"inthe "Journal
of the Royal Historical and Archaeological
Association of Ireland," vol. ii. . Fourth hunc Domini 1557. " Cent. xiv. p. 187.
Series, No. iii. , pp. 486 to 498, and No. iv. pp. 544 to 560. Also vol. iii. No. v. pp.
24 to 59, and No. vi. pp. 183 to 196.
7 Colgan maintains, he possessed different
Owing to the author's peculiar bias and temperament, this work is not very reliable,
except in passages, chiefly extracted from Leland's collection. See also Bellarmin, "De
little compositions of this celebrated poet. ''""
See Trias Thaumaturga, n. 5, p. 8.
^ See his Life at the 12th of October,
9 This, with a Latin translation and notes,
has been published by Colgan, as the first of St. Patrick's Lives, in the "Trias Thauma-
turga. " See pp. I to 10. It was originally extracted from the " Liber Hymnorum," a MS. now preserved in the Franciscan Con- ventual Library, Dublin. Another Irish version, with an English translation, intro- ductory observations and notes, will be found in " The Irish Ecclesiastical Record," vol. iv. , pp. 269 to 293. March, 1868. The Rev. Dr. Todd was about to introduce this Hymn, in his edition of the "Liber Hymno- rum ;" but he has left the Preface even in-
Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis," pp. 149 to 152. See his Life at the 8th of May.
'3 See Bartholomew Moroni, "Vita S. Cathaldi. " This was published at Rome, A. D. 1614. See also Wills' "Lives of Illus- trious and Distinguished Irishmen," vol. i. , part i. First Period, p. 77.
'* See his Life at the 29th of November.
5 See Harris' Ware, vol. iii. " The Writers of Ireland," book i. , chap. ii. p. Ii.
'^
See his Life at 6th of March.
*7 Such is the statement of Bale, in his work already mentioned. Cent. xiv. No. x. p. 188. In his " Historia Ecclesiatica Gen- tis Scotorum," tomus i. , lib. vi. , No. 515, pp. 280, 281, Dempster adds the titles of other works, but he cites no authority for his complete, at part ii. , p. 304. This is all we statement. See Edinburgh edition, a. d.
have as yet published, and it issued soon
after the death of the lamented Dr. Todd,
in 1869.
" See his Life at the 12th of February.
1829. This writer's great partiality for Scotland induces him improperly to claim the present saint, as also many other saints
and writers, although unquestionably these were Irishmen.
"
John of Trittenhem enumerates some of
Catalogus Scriptorum
1531, in quarto shape. Bale has added to John of Trittenhem's List, in his Scripto-
rum Illustrium Majoris Brytannije, quam nunc Angliam et Scotiam vocant, Catalogus: a Japheto per 3618 annos, usque ad annum
vm INTROD UCTION.
St. Ailbe, Bishop of Emly,^^ is believed to have compiled a Rule for Monks, ^9 which had been preserved in manuscript. ^"
The illustrious St. Brigid,^^ justly regarded as the great luminary in our Irish Church, about the close of the fifth and beginning of the sixth centu-
ries, is stated to have composed a Rule for her Nuns, and to have written some devout poems and epistles. ^^ Her chaplain, St. Nemid or Ninnidh Lainidan,=^3 is said to have produced some Hymns, in one of which there is a Panegyric of St. Brigid. ^-^ St. Brogan Cloen,*s Abbot of Rostuirck in Ossory, also wrote an Irish Hymn in her praise. ^*^ Cogitosus compiled a Life of St. Brigid. ^7
St. Diarmuid, the Just, was Abbot of Inis-Clothran,'^ and to him is attri- buted a work in the form of a Psalter, wherein fifty-two Irish saints are com- memorated. "9 St. FinenorFinian,BishopofClonard,isenumeratedamong our writers. 3° A certain Geman wrote a hymn in praise of this holy Bishop. 3^ St. Kieran, Abbot of Clonmacnoise,^" is also said to have written a Rule for his Monks, and it is known under a title, The Law of Ciaran, the Artificer. 33 Some Prophecies are rather doubtfully ascribed to St. Jarlath,34 Bishop of Tuam. 35 Amergin Mac Auley, Poet Laureate to Dermod Mac Carroll,3'5 is supposed to be author of the Dinnsenchus, or
the Etymology of Remarkable Places in Ireland. 37 Again, the Canons of
'^
See his Life at the I2th of September.
'' This seems to have been the Law of St.
Albe, embraced in Munster, according to the "Ulster Annals," at a. d. 792. See
September.
'7 See Gerard Vossius, " De Scriptoribus
Latinis," lib. iii. , p. 624. Canisius, "An- tiquje Lectiones," tomus v.
January.
'9 Colgan says,' he had a copy of this Poem, but he thinks that interpolations have been inserted there by a more recent hand. See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernifc,"
X. Januarii, Vita S. Diermitii, n. 9, pp. 51,52. 30 His Life is given at the 1 2th of Decem-
ber. For his imputed writings, see Sir James Ware's " De Scriptoribus Hiberniae," lib. i. , p. 10.
3' See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber- niae," xxiii. Februarii, Vita S. Finiaui, cap. xxiii. , p. 395.
^ See his Life at the 9th of September.
33 See Sir James Ware's " De Scripto- ribus Hiberniae," lib. i. , p. 10.
3* See his Life at the 6th of June.
35 Colgan had a copy of those reputed prophecies. See "Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
niae, "xi. Februarii, VitaS. Hierlathi, p. 309. 3* See Dr. Kelly's edition of Gratianus
Lucius, or Lynch's "Cambrensis Eversus,"
vol. i. , cap. vii. , pp. 376 to 379.
3' Copies of this ancient tract are pre-
served in the Libraries of Trinity College, and of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin.
Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hibemicarum
=** See his Life at the loth of
Scrip- tores,"tomusiv. AnnalesUltonienses,p. 116. =~ See Harris' Ware. Vol. iii. "The
Writers of Ireland," book i. chap. ii. p. 6.
'' "^
See her Life at the ist of February. Other writings are likewise ascribed to
"
See Colgan's
Appendix Tertia ad Acta S. Brigidae, cap. ii. , p. 610. The life of St. Brigid is more
fully treated, at the ist of February, the day of her chief festival. The work attributed
"
to her by Bale,
lib. i. ," on the authority of some older writers, Sir James Ware believes should rather be ascribed to St. Brigid of Sweden. See "De Scriptoribus Hiberniie," lib. i. cap. ii. , p. 9.
"3 See his Life at the 2nd of April.
"* His acts occur at the i8th of January, according to Colgan. See "Acta Sancto- rum Hibemise," xviii. Januarii. Vita S. Nennidhii, pp. iii to 115.
'S See his Life at the 17th of September,
=«See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. " Appendix Tertia ad Acta S. Brigidae, cap. i. , p. 609. His feast occurs at the 17th of
her.
Trias Thaumaturga,"'
Suarum Revelationum,
classed H. 2. 15, and H. 3. 3, T. C. D. See
volume, with learned Introduction, notes,
and Appendices, for the Irish Archaeological Society, Dublin.
'^ See his Life at the loth of May. Also, Sir James Ware, "De Scriptoribus Hiber- nire," lib. i. , p. 14.
" Lectures on the Manu- script Materials of Ancient Irish History,"
xxi. p. 449.
3^ See his Life at the iSth of November. 39 His Acts, with notes and appendices,
arepublishedbyColgan. See"ActaSanc- torum Hibemiae," xviii. Martii. Vita S. Fridiani, sive Findiani, pp. 633 to 651.
*° See his Life at the 15th of April,
4' See Harris' Ware, vol. iii. "Writers of
Eugene O'Curry's
Lect. 10. Lect. i. , pp. 9,
n.
Lect. iii. , p. 53. Lect. ix. , pp. 188, 193. Lect. xii. , p. 257. Lect. xiv. , p. 302. Lect.
book
*" See his Life at the 1 6th of May.
^3 See Bale's "Scriptorum Illustrium Ma-
Ireland,"
i. , chap, iii. , pp. 16, 17.
&c. Cent, Catalogus. "
and Arnold Wion's ' '
4* See his Life at the 29th of November.
45 See "Trias " Colgan's Thaumaturga.
S'* In
Dempster's
Historia Ecclesiastica
joris Brytanniae,
xiv. , Lig-
No.
num Vita;," lib. ii.
78, p. 236,
ii. ,
28, p. 49.
INTR on UCTION. IX
the Blessed Frigidian^^ are attributed to a celebrated Irish Bishop of Lucca, who bore that name, and there founded a monastery. 39
St. Ruadan''° flourished in the sixth century, and it is said he wrote three differenttracts. '*' Muchaboutthesametime,St. Brendan,'*^BishopofClonfert, —some maintain, however, that he ruled over the see of Ardfert—wrote a Rule forhisMonks,andothertreatiseshavebeenascribedtohim. 43 Hisnamesake andcontemporary,St. Brendan,44AbbotofBirr,hasascribedtohimsomeenco- miastic verses on St. Columkille. 45 This latter great Apostle of Caledonia*^ is the reputed author of Saints' Acts, Prophecies, Monastic Rules, Poems, and Religious Tracts. ^? St. Comgall, or Congall,4S Abbot of Bangor, is said to have Wtten a Rule for Monks and some Epistles. 49 St. Eochaid Dalian, the Blind, 5° wrote some Irish poems in praise of St. Columkille, of St. Senan, Iniscathay, and of St. Conald Coel, Abbot of Inis-Coel. s' St. Colgius or Colchuo,52 is said to have been author of a Treatisess on the Miracles of his Master, St. Columkille. 54 St. Baithen, Abbot of Iona,5s is also said to have writteninIrishverse,TheLifeofSt. Columba. s'^ ToSt. Canice,Abbotof Aghaboe,57 has been attributed a Biography and Hymns, eulogistic of the same saint, s^ The foregoing enumeration, however, by no means exhausts the list of Hagiograpers,S9 who lived in the fifth and sixth centuries.
They are contained in the Books of Lecan, Reeves' edition of Adamnan's " Life of St.
Leinster, and Ballymote. Also in the MS. , Columba," published in a large quarto
Quinta Vita S. Columbse, cap. xli. and lib. i. , cap. xxvi. , p. 393. Colgan's "Trias
Appendix Tertia, pars, i. , p. 469.
** See his Life at the 9th of June.
47 The reader is referred for very complete
Thaumaturga. " Also, Appendix Tertia ad Acta S. Columbae, Pars Prima, p. 470.
57 See his Life at the nth of October.
5* See Sir Ware, " De Scriptoribus James
Hiberniae," lib. i. , cap. iii. , p. 34.
59 of these are unknown by name, Many
while it is uncertain if the tracts ascribed to
him to " Trias Colgan's
particulars regarding
Thaumaturga," pp. 31910514. See Tertia
ad Acta S.
